


Homeward Sea

by DreamingPagan



Category: Black Sails
Genre: F/M, I'm here for cuteness involving baby turtles not an argument, No Angst, nothing sad about it, this is pure tooth rotting fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 01:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12997209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingPagan/pseuds/DreamingPagan
Summary: Madi follows the sound of the sea to find Charles, now and always.





	Homeward Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sirenswhisper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sirenswhisper/gifts).



> This is set in a theoretical verse wherein Madi and Charles Vane both live through s4 and become Pirate King and Maroon Queen together, because in my opinion they'd have made a very good couple.

It is blessedly early in the morning.

There are mornings, Madi thinks, where the world just seems to be perfect. This is one of them. She has woken today to the sound of the waves lapping on the shore - just that. The quiet is pristine - unbroken, and she cannot deny the impulse that seizes her - the impulse to go out, to hear the sound of the tide going out -

The sound of birds squawking, she realizes as she draws nearer the shoreline. The morning quiet is broken here by the sound of a hundred birds all calling at the same time, and what on Earth has drawn them -?

"Hey - pick a fair fight, you assholes," a voice sounds close by, and as she exits the treeline, she sees the source of the sound.

"Go on - fuck off. Alright - what are you waiting for? Get out of here. Stupid turtle - you move any slower and the tide'll go out before you get there."

Charles Vane, she thinks with a giggle, does not, at first glance, look like a rescuer of tiny turtles, and yet here her husband stands, and around him -

She moves forward, and sits down in the sand, watching as hundreds of infant sea turtles flap their way forward and others burrow out of the sand. Their earnest effort is endearing - they work their way toward the water with all the determination of any small animal in pursuit of food, tiny flippers sometimes finding purchase and scuttling them along the sand all the faster. In their midst, Charles looks like a giant, and the look on his face…

She giggles, and he turns quickly, then looks down as if to ensure that he will not step on any of the small creatures he has just rescued from the grasping birds that stand at the far end of the beach, huddled in frustration.

“Captain,” she greets, the familiar title falling from her lips, a tease and a mark of respect at the same time. She knows his name, and he knows hers, and when the whispering endearments are spent for the night, they gasp and plead and praise using them, as they did the night before.

“Shit,” he mutters. “Princess. I, uh -”

He looks around him, as if searching for an explanation that will not make him sound just the slightest bit silly, and gives up after a moment.

“Want to help?” he asks a bit helplessly, and Madi cannot help it - she laughs, and starts forward. She picks her way toward him carefully, until finally she reaches him, and takes his arm, linking it with hers. She bends at the waist, and when she rises again, she is holding one of the very small creatures Charles has been rescuing.

“Say hello to your protector,” she says, attempting a serious expression and failing, and Charles reaches over to pluck the turtle from her hands.

“You do that, he’ll forget where he’s from,” he scolds. He places the turtle back on the sand, and Madi does not miss the way he gives the hatchling a tiny boost as he does so, scooting the infant turtle closer to the waves by an inch or so with a quick motion of his hand.

“Charles Vane,” she says softly, fondly, “defender of the enslaved, and patron saint of turtles.”

He rises.

“You tell anyone and I’ll deny it,” he answers, but there is a smile on his face. “I’ve got a reputation to maintain.”

“You think it cannot withstand a scandal such as this?” Madi asks, gesturing to the turtles, no longer able to conceal the wide grin on her face. Charles snorts.

“Flint gets hold of this I’d never hear the end of it,” he answers, and then looks down at his feet.

“Not much space, but you might be able to sit down now,” he offers. He looks over to her again. “It’s not much of a seat for a princess, but -”

“But for the wife of a pirate captain, it will serve,” she answers, and Charles smiles.

“Think your title can spare you for an hour,” he says, and she gives him a smile. It is early in the morning - he is right. There is no need for her to rush away right this moment - no dilemma to solve so urgent that it cannot be put off in favor of this moment with the man she loves. He sits down in the sand carefully, and offers her his hand, and she sinks down with equal care, situating herself firmly in front of him. His knees bracket her on either side, and for a moment, she allows herself to simply sit, enjoying the morning and the sound of the waves. The tiny, barely perceptible schick, schick of sand being disturbed continues, and the last of the turtles move past them one by one.

“Remember the last time we came down here like this?” Charles' voice rumbles next to her ear, and Madi allows her hands to begin to fiddle with his where they rest around her middle.

“I remember spending the next three days trying to rescue my hair from the brine,” she answers, and he moves his chin forward to rest on her shoulder.

“Come with me,” he says. “We’ll stay in the shallows this time. You go under and I’ll fix the damage. What do you think?”

She cranes her head, and sees him looking at her with his very most innocent and contrite expression, and she cannot resist him.

“No picking me up,” she cautions. “Agreed?”

Charles nods, and starts to rise, wrapping one arm around her middle as he does so. He lifts her to her feet with him, and then they are standing on an empty beach, with no one around, and two hours before the world will have woken enough to demand their attentions.

“Race you to the water,” he says with a grin, and she chases after him, laughing and flinging clothing as she goes.

**Author's Note:**

> As a side note and an important one - baby turtles are adorable but they do in fact need to walk over the beach themselves rather than being picked up and put in. I've got Charles being a bit of a wildlife activist in this and he's quite right. Leave baby turtles alone unless they're being pecked by birds, in which case make the birds fuck off.


End file.
